2023-2024 PRCA Committee Guide

PROMOTION & PUBLIC RELATIONS

PROMOTION • An effective committee will have a publicity chairman who is accustomed to leading a group, has experience working with media and advertising, and is ready to start working hard at least six months before your rodeo. • The committee should include a few volunteers who write well, and communicate promptly and professionally with the media. • Promote your rodeo as a community event rich in history, entertainment and action. • For further tips, log in to ProRodeo.org and click on Rodeo Committes, Rodeo Publicity. PR & DEVELOPING CONTACTS • Contact local businesses who already support your rodeo and set a goal to reach new businesses each year. • Develop educational presentations you can deliver at any time and anywhere. Include signifcant details such as audience demographics, your rodeo’s impact on local businesses and contributions to the community, including gifts to charities. • Contact area organizations such as the Chamber of Commerce, Rotary Club and business networking groups requesting to give a brief presentation on your rodeo. • Share more on your rodeo on social media, with friends, teachers, work colleagues, customers and create business cards. • Set up meetings with the general managers of your local radio and TV stations, and the publisher of your local newspaper(s). • The purpose of a press release, from your perspective as a rodeo committee, is to get your story published for free.

PROFESSIONAL RODEO COWBOYS ASSOCIATION COMMITTEE GUIDE 2023 © • How long your rodeo has been part of the community. • The impact your rodeo has had on the local economy. • What makes your rodeo unique and distinctive from other rodeos in the area. • Local charities or organizations that benefit from your rodeo. PRESS • Put in the work to initiate press coverage. It’s free, so you want as much press as possible. • Let media know when and how to reach you and answer their requests as soon as possible. • There are a range of story ideas you can pitch to reporters. For example, a few months before your rodeo, pitch a story about the preparations your committee is making for the rodeo. Allow a newspaper photographer to shoot arena preparations or let a TV station interview your rodeo president. Other ideas include: your rodeo’s economic impact, local contestant/ human interest features, or animal safeguards during the event. Adding personal elements to story pitches helps make coverage more likely. • Ask a newspaper to cover your rodeo’s results in the sports section. • Few reporters are rodeo experts. Offer your local media as much information as you can, especially about events and livestock welfare. • Go to ProRodeo.com/media for more information on media guidelines for rodeo coverage. RELEVANT INFORMATION TO SHARE WITH LOCAL MEDIA • The number of rodeo attendees and total number of community volunteers at your rodeo. • Information on nationally ranked PRCA contestants at your rodeo.

PROMOTION

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